Switch
by Splendless
Summary: Jeff transfers to Dalton after being bullied at Mckinley Extremely shy Jeff and Out of control Nick
1. Chapter 1

Jeff was nervous. There was no doubt about that. He stood in front of the mirror in his dorm, observing himself far too critically, sighing inwardly as he flattened the creases in his shirt. His ironed blazer lay on the chair next to him. Turning around he slipped it on and stared at himself once more. This is it, he whispered to himself, you can do it. His own words of advice fell flat as he continued scrutinising his appearance in the reflection. What if it's the same as before. It didn't change last time. Why should it now.

This was his third transfer in the past two years. His prior switch to McKinley High had ended drastically when his mother had come to pick him up from Glee rehearsals and found him locked in a dumpster in the parking lot. She decided then, after a two hour lecture to Principle Figgins on his complete oblivion to student welfare, that a private school was better suited for Jeff.

He didn't mind leaving. He hadn't made many friends there anyway, actually he had only spoken about three words to anyone, not even when they attacked him. He remained silent. Quietly hoping they would stop. He remembered the notes in his locker and the slurs and the shoves and the broken nose. Yeah. He didn't mind leaving.

He stood now, in his new dorm, the cuts and bruises on his face gone but the ones on his back still painfully visible. He glanced over to the bed opposite to his and wondered where his roommate was. He had arrived at Dalton yesterday and was given the full tour. The two boys in the upper year, who seemed nice, but heavily disinterested in him, had taken him to his room and said that he would be sharing with a boy named Nick, before leaving him standing outside. Jeff had waited a full ten minutes before building up the courage to knock on the door. When there was no response he pushed it open and walked into room. No Nick. He wondered if the boy had requested a room swop after hearing he would be sharing with the new kid. He decided it was probably true and that Nick would come back later to grab all his stuff.

But he didn't. It was now Monday morning of his first day at Dalton and his room lay littered with his mysterious roommates possessions. Several t-shirts lay scattered on the floor, a pocketknife sat open on the dresser and about thirty different coloured lighters lined the shelf above the bed.

He glanced at his watch. 7am. He still had an hour before classes started and decided that waking up extra early too get ready is not a particular great idea as it just makes you hungry and bored. He debated whether going down to breakfast was a good idea. He feared talking to anyone and didn't want to make a bad impression on his first day.

Deciding against leaving the room, he sat down carefully on his neatly made bed.

It was at this point that Nick Duval made his grand entrance. Slamming open the door, he charged into the room, kicking off his boots in the process. He strode halfway across the room, when he saw the blonde boy sitting opposite his bed, paralysed in fear.

"Who on Earth are you?" he demanded.

Jeff didn't answer

"Why are you in my room?"

Jeff tried to explain, but his words came out muddled and incoherent.

"What are you doing in here?" Nick continued, walking toward the trembling boy.

"I..i'm…new and –"

"Right. New kid. Forgot you were coming" Nick said, his tone of voice changing immediately, "did anyone come into the room last night?"

"No."

"Or this morning"

"No"

"Well they'll be coming soon then"

"Why?" Jeff was not used to being interrogated like this.

"Room inspection!" he exclaimed. Jumping backward suddenly and turning to face the mess that surrounded his bed.

Jeff sat in awe as Nick bounced about the room like a mad man, shoving clothes under his bed and magazines into the bookshelf. Several cigarettes fell out of his pocket as he dashed from corner to corner and Jeff cringed.

"Aren't you going to ask where I was last night?" Nick teased as he rearranged the lighters on the shelf.

Jeff remained silent.

"Well aren't you a lot of fun...hello...do you speak?"

Nick strode over to the other boy, clasping a hand over each cheek, staring down at him.

"So, I got some rules. Don't go through my stuff. Don't take my smokes. Don't touch my bed. And for the love of god do not wake me up for classes in the morning if i'm sleeping. Got it Blondie?"

Jeff nodded quickly, before Nick released him from his grip, smiling.

"This shall be fun", he concluded, "hopefully you'll last longer than my last roommate."

Nick grinned at the other boy wildly before running into the bathroom.

Jeff sat on his bed, completely lost for words.

He was 98 percent sure that he had just met the mad hatter.


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff was sure that now was a perfectly good time to go down to breakfast. It was either that or face Nick again. But as he turned to walk out the door he bumped straight into a tall figure with a clipboard entering the room. Jeff recognised him as one of the seniors who had showed him around yesterday.

"Room inspection", he said curtly before shutting the door.

He brushed past Jeff and began scrutinising every inch of Nick's side of the room.

"Can't be too careful with him", he joked.

Jeff stood plastered to the wall as the older boy began to open the draws of Nick's desk.

"Oh god...not again", he sighed, "Nick...Nick! Come out of the bathroom this instant!"

He strode over and began knocking on the bathroom door furiously.

"Wow, David, didn't realise you were so invested in seeing me naked. Why don't you come in and join me?" Nick called from inside.

"This isn't funny Nick."

"Oh but it is my dear"

"Listen" he said angrily, "this is your last warning. Next time I find cigarettes in your room I WILL be informing Mr. Peterson.

"Oh WILL you now? Will you? Will you? What shall I do!"

David clenched his teeth.

"Please officer, I'm so young, I can't go to prison! Do you know what they do to guys like me in there? Please, please, one more chance, I have a wife and children at home. It shan't happen again!"

"Shut up Nick! This is serious. Come out of there right now!"

There was a slight pause, before the brunette strode out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist, shaking his hair so that drops of water went flying onto David's face.

Jeff turned around shyly, his face reddening upon seeing Nick's toned chest.

"Nick", David said in a lowered voice.

"Yes"

"It is my duty as Prefect to –"

"Yes"

"...protect the welfare of all students –"

"Yes"

"...and when I find someone in the possession of –"

"Yes"

"Illicit or dangerous –"

"Yes"

"Shut up!"

"That wasn't very Prefect-like of you."

"Fine. That's it. I'm done", David shouted, "Next time I catch you, you will be suspended and I will personally make sure you are removed from the Warblers."

The stood in silence, staring at each other. Nick coughed.

"You're kinda sexy when you're angry."

David stormed out of the room, cigarettes in his hand, slamming the door shut behind him.

Jeff remained stuck to the wall, now very pale and his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

He glanced over at Nick, now in front of the mirror, combing his fingers through his hair and whistling. He tried to stop staring, but he couldn't. He scanned the entire length of Nick's body, his eyes finally arriving on the towel. He immediately averted his gaze upward and began blushing wildly.

He was in awe of this boy who had managed to both insult and humiliate the Prefect that he himself had been too shy to actually talk to the previous day.

"I think the walls can stand up by themselves..." Nick said as he buttoned up his blazer.

Jeff stepped away from the wall, grabbed his folder and immediately ran out of the room trembling, his hands twice as pale as before. He had missed breakfast. He didn't care, he was too nervous to eat anyway.

Nick followed soon after, staring and the blonde boy and grinning as he scurried down the hallway.

He then turned on his heel and headed directly in the direction of David's room.


	3. Chapter 3

**TW: References to self harm (minimal)  
(Also in later chapters)**

* * *

He stood in the front of the classroom door, terrified to enter.

Jeff had spent the last ten minutes looking for his English class, wondering the halls of Dalton, completely confused as to which direction he should be heading.

By the time he had found the room the lesson had already begun and the door was shut. He didn't want to open it. He didn't want to walk in and have everyone stare at him. He was shaking. He just stood there. Paralysed.

He was about to walk away when the door creaked open. A middle aged, dark haired woman stood leaning on the doorframe, staring Jeff down.

"Are you going to be joining us? Because I believe you will learn a lot more when you're actually inside the classroom."

Jeff stared up at his teacher. She smiled back at him. Clenching his jaw, he forced himself inside. At least twenty pairs of eyes became fixed on him as he entered and it was all he could do but stare back.

"So...Jeffrey" the teacher said, scanning down the list of names on her desk, "you're new to Dalton this year."

Jeff nodded in silence.

"Glad you're joining us. I'm Mrs. Hawthorne. Now take a seat."

He scanned the rows of chairs. There was only one left, at the very back next to a mousy haired boy who sat smiling at him.

Jeff kept his gaze directed at the floor as he moved through the rows of boys. He could feel their gazes piercing him. He was sure someone was about to trip him over.

After what seemed like an eternity he reached the empty chair and sat down.

I'm sorry, he said inwardly. I'm sorry you're stuck sitting next to me and I don't mind if you want to move desks or not talk to me for the whole year. I'm sorry.

The other boy turned to face him.

"I'm Trent" he said cheerfully sticking out his hand.

Jeff took it nervously.

"You moved from McKinley right?"

Yes. I did. Feel free to laugh at me now. What am I even doing at this school?

Jeff tried to push the thoughts aside and just nodded in response, refusing to face the other boy.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He repeated the words over in his mind as he stared ahead. He was finally disrupted by Mrs. Hawthorne dropping a copy of Hamlet on his desk.

Jeff brushed the pages between his fingers as the lesson began.

As Jeff, and hundreds of other Dalton students sat down to the first lesson of the day, Nick Duval sat barefoot (his shoes were far too squeaky) outside the bedroom of a Mr. David Waltenmire, struggling to open the lock. He had both David and his roommate Wes's lesson schedules memorised. Well, he had in fact stolen both their timetables, assuring himself that memorising their lessons was a far too difficult and pointless task. They were both sitting in Spanish at this very moment.

"Come on", he whispered to himself as turned the pin around in the lock. Finally, with a satisfying _click _the door opened. Nick snuck in, shutting the door behind him and breathing out.

They must be in here somewhere, he thought to himself. He had been in their room, numerous times before to retrieve various items of his. Half the time the two Prefects didn't notice anything was missing, and the other half they were too sick of Nick's antics and refutes to bother asking him. He opened up various draws, searching for his precious cigarettes when he heard footsteps outside the door. He stood frozen in fear.

"I can't believe Mr. Martinez didn't show up"

"Probably hungover."

"Probably"

Nick heard the two boys laughing outside as they approached the room.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Nick! You Idiot! His brain scattered and he began to panic. You have three options, he thought. One: Get castrated by David for breaking and entering. Two: Jump out the window and die a young hero's death. Or three...

Nick dived toward one of the beds, wriggling behind the piles of boxes and magazines and holding his breath.

He heard the door creak open.

"Wes, I told you not to leave the door unlocked!" He heard David shout angrily.

"Woah, calm down man. I must've forgotten or something."

"Sorry" David sighed.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah"

"You're not still pissed off at Nick are you?"

Nick couldn't help but grin and stick out his tongue from his hiding position.

"It's just...I don't know what to do with him."

"You should tell Mr. Peterson."

"Wes, the last Prefect that dobbed in a student was labelled a traitor by the entire student body."

"All for one and one for all", Wes laughed.

"Yeah", David replied sarcastically, "I'm just worried about Jeff."

"The new kid?"

"Yeah"

"Oh...he's rooming with him isn't he?"

"Yeah. That's the problem."

"Why?" Wes asked confused.

"Did you see him yesterday!? I couldn't get a word out of him. How's he going to deal with Nick in his face every waking hour?"

"Oh..."

"I was sort of curious after meeting him. So I went in to Mr. Peterson's office to check out his files."

"You didn't!"

"I was concerned!"

"Concerned enough to get expelled?"

"It was only for a second!"

"So...what did you see?"

David sighed. "I don't know...like...some really horrible stuff. Like really bad. Death threats and stuff at his old school. There were pages of it. I can't believe some of those things happened to him. Apparently the same kid broke his nose twice in the same month."

"Shit"

"Yeah...and all these counselling records and provisions for the school and all these precautions...no sharp objects to be in his possession...no long periods of isolations etcetera etcetera"

"You don't think he?"

"No...I think...they're just... being careful."

The two boys fell into silence and began to wind down and just mill around the room.

Nick lay under the bed. He tried to process the information he had just heard, but became very distracted by the fact that he needed to sneeze and that he could barely breathe and that there were boxes digging into his back and that he was going to have to stay hiding under here for an undetermined period of time.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick breathed out a sigh of relief as the two Prefects exited the room. He crawled out from his hiding spot, coughing and spluttering, covered in dust. He looked in the mirror, his entire jacket was now grey and dirty. After spending at least ten minutes cleaning it, he turned and began his search again. He looked through drawers and shelves and boxes and beds but he couldn't find them. Disappointed he walked out of the room and decided that it was probably a good time to go to class. What lessons had he missed? He racked his brain trying to remember.

Jeff sat in French, where Nick was supposed to be, up the back once again, but this time alone. Thank god, he thought to himself.

The teacher was having an especially frustrating lesson. Not one of the students was able to answer any of the questions he had assigned. Unbeknownst to all, Jeff actually had the answers written down in neat columns in his notebook, but he was too frightened to put his hand up and speak. Every time the teacher called out the correct answer he would cross one of the words off.

All of a sudden, the bell rang and twenty something boys bolted out of the classroom, relieved and jovial at the prospect of lunch. Jeff's insides twisted, as he packed up his things.

He was so focused in packing away his pens that he didn't notice his French teacher hovering over him.

"I don't know why you don't just call out the answers" , he said looking at Jeff's book.

Because they'll hate me. Because they'll think I'm trying to be smarter than them. Because they'll rip up my notes and laugh at me.

Jeff shrugged silently and hurried out of the classroom. The teacher watched him go with a concerned expression on his face.

Jeff headed toward the cafeteria, but didn't actually enter. He watched from a corner as boy after boy filed in to get their lunch. He saw them, all sitting down together, laughing, joking, yelling at one another.

He froze. He had no idea where to sit. He scanned the crammed tables in hope of finding an empty one, but no such luck. His stomach grumbled, he hadn't eaten all day. And barely anything the day before when driving over.

He smelt the food wafting over from the kitchens. But he couldn't do it. He suddenly felt very sick and ran toward the bathroom.

The bathroom was empty and he burst into one the stalls, crouching down next to the toilet. He began to gag. He felt like throwing up, but there was nothing to throw up, so he knelt on the tiled floor, dry wrenching saliva.

After about fifteen minutes he managed to compose himself. He stood up, wobbling slightly. The doctor had said to call him if this started happening again. He wouldn't call. He hadn't even told his mother when he had thrown up at least once a week at McKinley after having panic attacks in the corridor.

He forced himself away from those memories and stepped out of the stall. He saw his reflection in the mirror and cringed.

You look sick, he told himself. You just look sick and horrible.

* * *

Nick was on his fourth can of coke, when Thad grabbed it out of his hand.

"I think that's enough" he joked.

"Fuck you Thad! If you were locked in Waltenshmire and Pez's room for an hour you'd understand!"

The group of four boys burst out laughing as Nick chugged the remainder of his drink.

"So, are we up for anything tonight?" Ben asked, facing the three others.

"I don't know...it's Monday so..."

Shut up Josh! You never want to come out with us anyway!" Ben interjected.

"Okay...well maybe I'm just concerned that it's the first day of the week and you're insisting on wreaking havoc!"

"Fun sponge" Nick called.

"Fun sponge" Ben also called.

"Fun sponge" Thad whispered in his ear.

"Oh to hell with you all" Josh tried to say very seriously, but his words were wracked with laughter.

"What about that new kid?" Thad asked.

"What about him?" Nick replied.

"I dunno, we should do something fun for his first proper night at Dalton!"

"I'm not sure he would like that. Sort of a quiet one" Nick replied.

"Come on Nick...it'll be fun!"

Nick sighed, dropping the can on the table.

"Paint war?", he suggested.

The four boys grinned at each other.

"Get the word out to everyone" , Nick yelled , "we begin at 10pm tonight!"


	5. Chapter 5

Jeff Sterling had officially survived his first day at Dalton. Or so he thought.

He walked out of his last class relieved and headed toward his room.

"Wait!"

Jeff turned around startled. It was Trent.

"Hey, you left class so quickly! I was going to ask, I mean, cause I heard you were in the glee club at your old school..."

_Where had he heard that? How much else did he know._

"...If you wanted to come audition for the Warblers."

Jeff shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the floor.

Trent continued none the less, "we're always looking for new members, you should join...or at least try out or something. You know last year we..."

Trent trailed off as Jeff stared at the carpet, suddenly very interested in the patterns on the floor. He had heard the kids at McKinley talking about the Warblers. Stiff competition apparently.

His thoughts stopped when Trent shoved a brochure under his nose, waving it furiously until Jeff took it.

On the front stood three boys looking far more cheery than necessary, notes and treble clefs flying in ridiculous directions behind their heads and Warbler birds sitting in the corner; all together under the hideously yellow title "WHY BE A WARBLER?"

Jeff smiled politely to Trent, shoved the brochure in his bag and headed toward his room.

He arrived back at the familiar door and this time wasted no time in opening it and entering. His brief moment of courage however, suddenly diminished when he saw Nick sitting inbetween the two beds, lining up rows of empty shampoo bottles.

He hadn't seen Nick since the David incident in the morning and now was about ten times more confused about his roommate. He desperately wanted to ask what the bottles were for.

Nick turned around to face him, a grin spreading over his face.

"Did you get any homework today?"

Jeff shook his head.

"Good! Come here!"

Jeff put his books down on his desk and walked over tentatively. Nick pulled out a box from under his bed that was overflowing with a variety of paint tubes.

"So we got red and blue and green. But we can make purple. So then if we have four colours and about twenty people playing, that means five people to a colour, so five people to a team."

Jeff sat down on the bed next to Nick, as began arranging the shampoo bottles, or "guns" as he insisted on calling them, into groups of five.

"Do you want to play...because some of the guys were wondering if you wanted to" Nick asked.

"I...I don't know what..."

"Paint war! Like paint ball. But less ball. Each team has a colour, the one that gets the most paint on everyone else wins! Oh, but if you get any of your ammo on the walls or the carpet or anywhere on the most glorious halls of Dalton, points are deducted...and teachers get really mad. Oh and by the way if any teacher spots you, game over."

Jeff sat on the bed, feeling extremely awkward and unsure of what to say. He began picking at the duvet as Nick mixed the water with paint and began funnelling the liquid into the various bottles.

This went on for a full ten minutes. Jeff grew increasingly anxious. He couldn't watch anymore so he got up and walked over to his desk.

Nick eyed him carefully as he sat down and took out his schoolwork.

Jeff set his copy of Hamlet down on the desk and opened up to a random page. He read the first line over and over and over, hoping Nick would forget about him.

Nick stared over at the blonde boy curiously. He kept watching as Jeff scanned over the play.

The room was silent. Nick couldn't bare it. He was too excited about tonight's events.

"You haven't turned the page in like...fifteen minutes."

Jeff turned to look at him.

"Where are you up to?"

Jeff didn't answer. Nick scoffed and suddenly grabbed one of the bottles in his hand, spraying purple all over the window.

Jeff eyes widened as Nick began laughing madly.

"I knew these were better than water guns...I have to tell Thad!"

Nick bolted out of the room, bottle in hand as he skipped down the corridor.

Jeff got out of his chair and walked toward the window, now dripping in a perfect circle of purple paint. Surprisingly, none had gotten on the curtains. Years of practice, Jeff assumed.


	6. Chapter 6

"Jeff…wake up…Jeff….Jeff…"

Jeff squirmed in his sleep, finally opening his eyes as he turned over his in his bed. He was shocked to find Nick's dark pupils staring back at him. He instinctively moved away from the other boy, backing up against the wall, pulling the blankets along with him.

Nick jumped up next to him, sitting on his knees and staring intently at his roommate.

"Up for the paint war Jeffrey m'dear?" he announced all of a sudden.

Jeff tried to remember what had happened. Nick had left the room, and then…had he fallen asleep? What time was it? 9:48pm. Paint war. Paint war. Paint war?

Jeff shook his head.

"Come on! It'll be fun… everyone's organised it for you. Consider it your welcome to Dalton!"

He remained silent

"But…you don't have to do it if you don't want to" , Nick added as an afterthought.

Jeff sat there silently, struggling to answer .He really didn't want to play. He really didn't.

_Is it rude to say no? After they've organised it for me? Of course it is. Of course it bloody well is. Just do it, just say yes!_

"I can't…" he whispered quietly.

"Why not?", Nick's tone wasn't demanding or angry, it was actually quite sincere. Jeff wasn't use to being spoken to in such a manner.

"I just…."

"Just ?"

"Can't"

Nick looked disappointed, but finally relented, jumping off the bed and heading toward the door.

"Maybe another time then?"

Jeff didn't have time to answer before Nick closed the door shut and ran off down the corridor. He sat up further in his bed, shivering and pulled the blankets tighter around himself. His stomach grumbled loudly. He had almost forgotten that he hadn't eaten in a day and a half. Lying back down uncomfortably he spotted something in the corner of his eye. Beside his bed lay one of Nick's shampoo bottles. A large J was painted on the front and he reached his hand out curiously.

Nick burst into Ben and Thad's room to find the two boys, plus Josh, sitting on the floor twisting the lids onto their bottles.

"Where's Jeff?"

"Not coming."

"What!?", Josh jumped up angrily, "the only reason I went through with this plan was because you said we needed to 'welcome him' or some ridiculous shit like that."

"Shut up Josh, everyone's going to have fun anyway so stop complaining."

A chorus of "fun sponge" and "fun sucker" erupted from the other three boys and Josh rolled his eyes furiously and sat down again.

Nick picked up one of the bottles, spinning it around in his hand.

"What's the time?"

"Almost ten"

"Alright men… let's go", Nick said in a far too serious tone, mocking probably every war movie he and his friends had ever watched.

The four boys burst out laughing before stepping out into the hallway, entering the battlefield. Nick took off to the left with Thad, while Ben and Josh moved off in the opposite direction.

Jeff lay in his bed, the shampoo bottle in his hand. He felt ridiculous and a little confused as his fingers traced the purple J, smiling too himself. His thoughts were occasionally interrupted by the muffled footsteps and repressed cries as the school outside buzzed.

They were an hour in. Nick had lost Thad a while ago. He didn't mind. He was better alone. They had taken out most of the Blue Team, covering them in purple liquid, and forcing them back to their rooms before they finally admitted defeat. Nick had barely any marks on him. His shoulder was red from when Thad had stupidly lead him into an ambush, but it was only minimal. He grinned, they were going to win. He heard a cry from a room downstairs. It was Callum from….the red team? Yes. Fantastic. Their main problem at this stage was the Green team. He hadn't seen any of them all night and began to wonder where they were hiding.

Jeff turned over in his bed, wondering how on Earth the teachers remained oblivious to these night activities. The pain in his stomach was becoming unbearable. He was struck between leaving the room and heading toward the kitchen, but the fear of becoming involved in whatever game Nick had planned was too great.

It was at this point that he heard the voices. They were soft, but he was able to pick them up. Two or three boys were approaching the room. Jeff became paralysed with fear.

"Do you think we can get in?"

"Oh please…I've picked every lock in this school. Do you really think Nick is the only one in our whole school who can?"

"What if their ammo's not in here?"

"Then we'll check Ben and Thad's room."

"I dunno, isn't it a rule that we can't go into each other bases?"

The two boys were standing right outside the door. Jeff began to shake.

"Oh you want to talk rules? Remember last year when Nick - "

"But –"

"Do you!?"

"Fine, open it."

Jeff panicked and sat up. Should he pretend to be asleep, or hide or…

It was too late, he watched in terror as two boys entered the room.

"Who on Earth are you?" one of them exclaimed upon seeing Jeff.

"He's on purple!", the other one cried excitedly, spotting the bottle Jeff held in his hand.

Before Jeff could move, his entire face was sprayed with green paint. He felt it creep into every crevice of his face. It sort of felt like the slushies at McKinley, but the smell was intoxicating. The two boys promptly ran out of the room laughing and headed toward the Purple team.

Jeff spluttered, there was paint all over and inside his mouth, the metallic taste setting his teeth on edge. His couldn't open his eyes and they began to sting as he wiped the liquid off them.

He quickly got up and stumbled to the bathroom, struggling to find the sink with his eyes plastered shut. He finally managed to reach the tap and drowned his face in cold water. Coughing once more, he turned to face himself in the mirror. His eyes were red and swollen, his hair still party green. The boy shuddered and turned away refusing to face himself in the mirror again.

Jeff locked the bathroom door and slid down to sit on the floor. It was just a joke, he knew that. He repeated it to himself, but was still unable to stop the tears that rolled down his cheek. He tried to stop himself, but couldn't. He sat, on his first night at Dalton, sobbing in a locked bathroom.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Nick returned to the dorm, dripping in green paint and extremely pissed off. They had lost. How could they have lost? He blamed Thad.

Upon entering the room, his eyes were drawn immediately to Jeff's empty bed, also covered in the green liquid.

"Jeff…?"

There was no response.

"Jeff, where are you?"

Jeff sat in the bathroom, hands wrapped around his knees, refusing to answer the other boy.

Nick knocked on the bathroom door. "Jeff, come on, stop sulking. They didn't mean to hurt you or anything. It's just a game!"

Jeff nodded to himself. It wasn't their fault. It was his. He tried to ignore the thuds on the door.

And so it went on for an hour. Nick would try to convince him to come out and Jeff would sit quietly waiting for him to go away.

Nick finally gave up and moved away toward the balcony, where he sat smoking, a glum expression painted over his face.

"You know you can't sleep in there!"

No reply.

"Fine, whatever!"

Nick tossed out the cigarrete and moved off toward his bed.

_Why doesn't he just come out of the room? For the love of-_

His angered thoughts were interrupted when he looked at the green duvet and pillowcase on Jeff's bed again. He stared at them momentarily before sighing and exiting the room.

Thad and Ben were half asleep when they heard Nick knocking loudly on their door.

"Oi open up it's freezing outside!" , he called. "Open it! Ben…Ben!"

An extremely grumpy and partly green Thad opened the door, giving Nick his biggest and most practiced death stare.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, seeing as I have an established knowledge of clock faces."

"Could have fooled me…what do you want?"

Nick pushed his way into the room, flicking on the light switch.

"Uckoffyouwanker" Ben managed to mumble from underneath his sheets.

"What do you want?" Thad repeated angrily.

"Yeah alright calm down a moment" , Nick answered slowly pacing around the room.

Thad sighed. Ben began to snore again.

"Do you have any spare sheets?"

"What?"

"Give me your blankets."

"Why?"

"Because."

"No."

"They're for Jeff, his bed's all green….also he's trapped in the bathroom."

"What, why would you do that to him? I haven't even met him yet and you've locked him the bathroom!"

"I didn't do it, he locked himself in there."

Thad looked puzzled, "For how long?"

"A couple of hours I think."

"What!"

"I know. I'm actually quite concerned, last time I slept in a bath tub I had neck pains for a week."

"This isn't funny Nick."

"Just give me your blankets."

"What happened to your spare ones?"

"You don't remember the ladder rope…'Nick, this is a very serious concern, we can't have you climbing out of your balcony at night. If you were to harm yourself!'" Nick said, imitating a very concerned Mr. Peterson."

"What, so they still won't give you spare blankets?"

"Still."

"Ouch"

"Yeah, so I'll just be taking yours."

"And how do you propose to get Jeff out of the bathroom?"

"I don't know, I assumed he'd come out at daylight."

"SHUT UP!"

The two boys turned around at the sound of Ben's voice. He had a pillow over his head and back faced away from them so that his nose was touching the wall.

Nick grinned slyly. He walked up to the sleeping boy, leant over him and breathed heavily into his ear. He immediately knew he had pushed his luck when Ben turned over and punched him squarely in the jaw.

"Fuck!" Nick stumbled backward, as Thad burst out laughing.

"Jesus Christ Ben. What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Go look after Jeff or something, just get out of here, I can't sleep!" Ben said angrily as he turned over once more, bringing the blanket over his face.

Nick quickly stormed out of the room, the spare duvet in his hands and his jaw throbbing. He trudged down the corridor and kicked the door open once reaching his room.

He stared at Jeff's bed, calming down a bit. What time was it now? It had to have been past 3 in the morning.

He quickly remade Jeff's bed, tearing of the lime green sheets and replacing them with Thad's.

"Ok Jeffrey. I just got punched in the jaw and I'm sick of you whining, so just come out already and go to sleep."

Jeff sat inside with a confused look on his face. He checked his watch. 3.35am. He would have to be up in three hours anyway. Nick sounded angry.

He heard Nick stomp back to his bed. And then silence.

Jeff stood up and unlocked the door. The room was dark but he managed his way to his bed easily enough. He noticed the clean sheets and stared at Nick who had his back toward him.

"A…Are you asleep?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." He managed to whisper quietly.

Nick smiled to himself upon hearing Jeff's words. He waited a full half an hour, before he heard Jeff's breathing patterns subside, before turning around to face him.

He watched the blonde boy sleeping, his hair tousled and mouth slightly open.

He tried to stop staring at him, he really did, but every time he tried to look away his gaze was drawn back to Jeff.


	8. Chapter 8

Nick groaned as he heard an alarm go off from across the room.

"Can you shut that thing off!?"

The noise stopped and he curled up in his bed, drawing the blanket up to his chin.

Jeff lay on his back, wide awake, one hand on his stomach and eyes shut. His stomach pains from last night hadn't subsided. He needed to eat.

Crawling out of bed he wobbled toward the bathroom and shut the door. Making sure it was locked he pulled his pyjama shirt over his head, revealing the numerous bruises and marks on his skin that he had acquired at McKinley. He hated it. He hated looking at himself, but once he began, he was unable to stop. His fingers traced the marks on his ribcage tentatively, scared of pressing down too hard. They traced their way up to the front of his shoulders and then down the length of his left arm. They stopped abruptly at the crook of his elbow. He didn't look down, he knew what he would find there.

He tried to distract himself by directing his attention to his still-green hair and face. Stripping out of the rest of his clothes he stepped into the shower and closed the curtain.

He hadn't realised how much time had passed, but was quickly woken from his musings when Nick began to bang on the bathroom door.

"Christ Jeffrey, how long is it going to take you, I thought you had enough time in there yesterday!"

Upon hearing the other boy, Jeff turned off the taps quickly and hopped out of the bath tub, urging himself to get out of the bathroom as fast as possible.

He walked to the door, almost slipping in the process and stepped outside. Nick immediately barged passed, in nothing but his boxers and a towel pressed against his thighs, leaving a shivering and dripping wet Jeff standing outside.

Half an hour later and dressed for a day of classes, Jeff left the room as Nick continued his ongoing medley of horrible 90's rap music in the shower. The blonde boy headed toward the cafeteria, promising himself that he would eat something this time.

With, what he could only assume was pure luck, he spotted an empty table in the corner of the room. He eyed the rows of tables laden with food, nothing like deep fried and often inedible meals served up at McKinley. His plate piled with fruit and toast he went to sit down at his table, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Oh my god...is that Jeff"

"Who?"

"The new kid you moron."

"Oh."

Ben and Thad sat in the middle of the cafeteria, both craning their necks to get a better look at Nick's roommate.

"He's...very blonde", Ben commented.

"Thanks for the insight", Thad replied sarcastically.

"What are you guys looking at?"

Josh sat down beside his two friends, a perplexed look on his face.

"New kid"

"Where...Who?"

"The_ blonde _one", Thad said, rolling his eyes and returning to his cereal.

He was interrupted mid-swallow by an ungracious yelp erupting from Ben.

Nick had clipped him over the ear as he jumped over the table to sit beside Josh.

"That's for punching me last night you wanker!"

"He punched you?!" Josh cried in indignation.

"Shut up, it was nothing! You deserved it", Ben retorted angrily.

"I blacked out for a full half an hour!"

"You did not!"

"Yeah, well it still hurt."

Nick proceeded to hurl pieces of toast at Ben, before Josh took his plate away from him.

"You're like children!"

Nick and Ben sat across from each other, arms folded and glaring moodily.

Thad decided to break the tension.

"So...Jeff..."

The four boys redirected their attention to Jeff, sitting in the corner alone, brushing crumbs away from his lips.

"So...what?", Nick inquired.

Thad sniggered.

"What?" Nick glared.

"Nothing!"

"Tell me."

Thad sighed."_He's awfully cute Nick"_

Ben groaned and Josh suddenly became very interested in his bowl of fruit.

"You can't even see him properly from here!" Nick said.

"Yes I can!" Thad replied, craning his neck around a little further, openly eyeing him from across the room.

Before Nick could open his mouth to reply, Ben interrupted.

"NO...NO, I'm not having this conversation with you two again!" he said half joking, half serious.

Josh and Ben managed to awkwardly slink away from the table as Nick and Thad burst out laughing at their embarrassed faces.

Nick turned back to his cereal.

"So have you tried?"

"What?"

"You know what."

"Jesus Thad, he's been here one night, give it a rest."

"Whatever", Thad replied, turning back to face Nick, "but you should try not moaning his name in your sleep."

Nick chocked and spluttered bits of cereal down his shirt.

"Yeah, went back to your room after you got the blankets, couldn't sleep. I heard Dave and Wes coming round for early morning inspections. Thought I'd warn you. You need sound proof sheets or something. Seriously. It was utterly pornographic! I wonder if they heard..."

Thad began to imitate Nick, gaining a few unusual stares and giggles from the other tables.

Nick stared at Thad in horror, before standing up abruptly and storming out of the cafeteria.

Jeff watched Nick dart through the maze of blue and red students, momentarily distracted. He then refocused his attention on trying to eat. The crusts of his toast lay on his plate and he convinced himself to begin the apple.

The food hadn't made him feel better. Well, it had a bit, but there was a still a huge pit in his stomach that he could feel. It was always there. He bit into the apple again, forcing himself to swallow, before the bell rang and the day of classes begun.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm not sure if anyone's still reading this! Sorry, i haven't updated in forever, i had my final school exams (urgh) and some other stuff going on.  
But now that's all over so, so hopefully i can update regularly now and i don't have all that school stress!  
Sorry for the wait, and thank you for your reviews xx**

* * *

Jeff sighed with relief as the bell rang for the end of English. He hadn't minded the lesson, they were just reading through Hamlet, each student voicing a different character. He almost found himself laughing when the other boys attempted their seemingly rehearsed Old English accents. Their voices became more and more odd as they progressed through the acts, with Miss Hawthorne drawing the line when they insisted on voicing The Ghost with a South African accent.

But he was glad to be out of the classroom, every five minutes or so Trent had decided that he needed to be reminded of his apparent disinterest in the Warblers.

Come lunch time he opted to avoid the cafeteria, deciding breakfast was enough to get him through the day. He trudged up to his room, glad to find it empty and collapsed on the bed, willing himself to keep his eyes open. It was almost the weekend, he wondered if he could just sleep through French and into Saturday.

* * *

Nick, Thad, Josh, and Ben sat laughing in the cafeteria as they began to eat.

"Where's Jeff?"

"Iunnomph"

Thad cocked an eyebrow as he stared at Nick, faced stuffed with at least half a sandwich.

"Pardon me your grace?" he inquired sarcastically.

"I don't know," he replied, swallowing and reaching for Josh's bottle.

"Hey...hey!" Josh shouted snatching his water back, "honestly, can you learn to chew your food...please, I think it would make you, at least...twice as tolerable.

Nick began splutter, as part of his lunch threatened to resurface.

"I stand corrected," Josh said, rolling his eyes.

"No but seriously, he's been here a week and I haven't seen him...you know...hanging out with anyone," Thad continued.

Nick just shrugged, disinterested, "plans for the weekend?"

"_Nothing."_

"_Nothing."_

"_Nothing."_

"Well aren't you all fascinating creatures?"

Nick was still excited though, the weekend was the weekend after all. As he got up to leave to Math class, he was jerked back by Thad who had grabbed a hold of his hand. He waited until Josh and Ben had left before letting go.

"What?" Nick demanded.

"We didn't finish our conversation from Tuesday...regarding Blondie"

"I _think_ we did."

"I _think_ you stormed off."

"I _think_ you're annoying as hell."

"I think you're being all touchy because you haven't gotten laid in months."

That shut Nick up, as he sat glaring at Thad, unsure of how to reply.

"What are you talking about?" he finally spat.

"I'm talking about you and Jeff and getting off with – "

"Just leave it okay."

"Touchy."

"Urgh"

"It's not like you have anything better to do anyway."

"I don't even like him and I don't even know if he's-"

"So," Thad interrupted.

"So yeah, why would I...you know"

"Oh god, Nick Duval suddenly has a set of morals."

"No...I"

"Why don't you just try?"

"Um, yeah, maybe because he's been here one week, and he freaking locked himself in a bathroom and is inept at engaging in any form of conversation...I have standards you know."

"First I've heard of it..."

"Ha, rich coming from you."

"I'm just saying," Thad smirked, "you've had worse...remember that guy, oh my god, when you were so pissed and-"

"Yeah don't need reminding thanks...and could you stop playing matchmaker...it's freaking creepy."

"Why, because I'm scarily accurate?" he announced, perhaps a little too pompously.

"No because..."

Nick frowned and stood up abruptly, making a mental note to avoid Thad for a while.

Whilst making his dramatic exit he bumped into Trent.

"Hey, have you seen Jeff? He won't answer me about Warbler practice and I-"

Nick sighed and calmly knocked Trent's empty lunch tray out of his hands, hoping to shut him up, and continued down the corridor without looking back.


End file.
